New Worlds
by outruntheavalanche
Summary: [Rey returns to D'Qar three months to the day after the destruction of Starkiller Base, with a disgraced former Jedi master in tow.] Finn/Rey fluff.


Rey returns to D'Qar three months to the day after the destruction of Starkiller Base, with a disgraced former Jedi master in tow. She hadn't been able to send many messages to them from Ahch-To for fear that the First Order might intercept them, but the scattered communication she'd managed to send to the base paints a vibrant, vivid picture. Finn could practically see blue-gray ocean waves lapping against craggy gray rock when he listened to Rey's first message.

Today it seems like everyone in the Resistance has gathered outside to watch the Millennium Falcon as it descends from the frothy clouds like a ladle into a bowl of soup. Finn can hardly move; people are packed in around him like sardines and, for a moment, the closeness reminds him of stainless steel barracks and white plastoid armor. He shakes the unsettling memories away and an arm slung loosely about his shoulders—Poe—helps to anchor him to D'Qar.

The Falcon wheezes and sputters and groans as it lands, blowing up debris and dust. Somewhere aboard that hunk of junk, Finn thinks, is his best friend and the most legendary Jedi of them all. Though he doesn't quite remember, Finn is certain a young FN-2187—but perhaps his parents had called him by a different name—heard tales of the last jedi, the brave princess, and the daring smuggler. Only they'd probably called them fairytales.

A metal ramp unfurls from the underbelly of the Falcon, and then Chewbacca is ambling down, throwing his head back and roaring in greeting. Finn can feel his heart thrash against his ribcage in anticipation— _Rey Rey Rey_ is running a ragged loop in his mind—and he grabs Poe around the neck and throttles him in his excitement. He could probably rip the arms off a wampa with his bare hands right now, if he wanted to.

Rey steps onto the platform then, a staff in hand, and she immediately lifts her eyes to Finn's. She looks so much _older_ than Finn remembers, which is impossible since she's only been gone for a handful of months. But it's not older in a bad way, it's old in a—mature, dignified way. For a moment, Finn worries that maybe Rey has surpassed him in some way, that maybe they've missed one another like two starships passing in realspace, almost close enough to collide but not quite.

Then she smiles and the mature, dignified Rey falls away like a Jedi's robes, leaving the girl who'd carved a home for herself in Finn's chest in the amount of time it took Finn to lace his fingers with hers on a desert planet, under an unforgiving sun, and bid her to run.

Rey does run then, dropping her staff along with her _maturity_ and her _dignity_ , and she throws herself into Finn's arms. The people part for them, give them enough room for their reunion. Rey buries her face in his neck and Finn closes his eyes.

"I missed you," she whispers fiercely, tightening her arms around his shoulders.

Finn murmurs something in response, though he's not entirely sure what. All of the sounds and smells—Poe's thick aftershave, the Falcon's exhaust, the ocean salt in Rey's hair—bombard him, leave him with his head spinning and heart racing. He's left feeling overwhelmed.

Rey pulls back and beams at him, leaving her hands to rest on his forearms. She squints up at Finn as if he's made of the sun, lips pulling back in a broad white smile, and Finn feels one spreading across his own face at the sight.

"I'm going to do something now," Rey tells him breathlessly, and he notices now that her fingers are rubbing little concentric patterns on his arms. His entire body thrums with anticipation. "If it displeases you, you can tell me to stop."

Finn just cups her cheek in his hand because he knows. He woke with a phantom kiss lingering on his forehead. It never left him. He might not be a Jedi but he knows.

Rey leans forward and kisses him gently, a soft press of her lips against his. It's entirely chaste, no tongue or teeth and hardly any saliva involved at all, and it's far better than Finn could have ever imagined. The pilots have regaled Finn with many disastrous 'first kiss' tales—the utterly disgusting story of Poe's first kiss left Finn in need of multiple sonic showers—but they hadn't prepared him for this. This kiss is the promise of more, a door opening to new worlds.

It's suddenly so quiet now. All Finn can hear is his heartbeat and Rey's, intertwined, inextricably linked.

He slips his hand in hers and squeezes; Rey squeezes back and brushes her mouth over his forehead, over the ghost of the kiss she'd left him before she went off in search of Luke Skywalker.

New worlds, Finn thinks, laughing and pulling her against his chest in a crushing hug.

New worlds they'll explore together.


End file.
